What is life expectancy in Afghanistan?

Life expectancy in Afghanistan was 66.03 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.

What is the highest life expectancy recorded in Afghanistan?

The highest recorded value was 66.03 years in 2023.

What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Afghanistan?

The lowest recorded value was 28.16 years in 1950.

How does Afghanistan rank for life expectancy?

Afghanistan ranks 203rd out of 236 countries with data for 2023.

Is life expectancy rising or falling in Afghanistan?

Over the last ten years it is up 6.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Afghanistan data come from?

The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Life expectancy in Afghanistan

Name: Life expectancy in Afghanistan
Creator: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Afghanistan: Life expectancy was 66.03 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

66.03 years

Change on year

up 0.6%

World rank

203rd

of 236 countries

All-time high

66.03 years

in 2023

All-time low

28.16 years

in 1950

Years of data

1950–2023

Life expectancy in Afghanistan, 1950–2023

Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

The most recent figure for life expectancy in Afghanistan is 66.03 years, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 6.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in Afghanistan peaked at 66.03 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 28.16 years, in 1950.

That places Afghanistan 203rd out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Life expectancy in Afghanistan, year by year

Annual values for Life expectancy in Afghanistan, 1950 to 2023.
Year	years	Change
1950	28.16 years	—
1951	28.58 years	+1.5%
1952	29.01 years	+1.5%
1953	29.45 years	+1.5%
1954	29.7 years	+0.8%
1955	30.37 years	+2.3%
1956	30.83 years	+1.5%
1957	31.35 years	+1.7%
1958	31.84 years	+1.6%
1959	32.34 years	+1.6%
1960	32.8 years	+1.4%
1961	33.29 years	+1.5%
1962	33.76 years	+1.4%
1963	34.2 years	+1.3%
1964	34.67 years	+1.4%
1965	35.12 years	+1.3%
1966	35.58 years	+1.3%
1967	36.04 years	+1.3%
1968	36.51 years	+1.3%
1969	36.98 years	+1.3%
1970	37.46 years	+1.3%
1971	37.93 years	+1.3%
1972	38.42 years	+1.3%
1973	38.95 years	+1.4%
1974	39.47 years	+1.3%
1975	39.99 years	+1.3%
1976	40.52 years	+1.3%
1977	41.08 years	+1.4%
1978	40.09 years	-2.4%
1979	38.84 years	-3.1%
1980	39.26 years	+1.1%
1981	39.41 years	+0.4%
1982	36.06 years	-8.5%
1983	36.52 years	+1.3%
1984	31.47 years	-13.8%
1985	32.13 years	+2.1%
1986	38.4 years	+19.5%
1987	38.83 years	+1.1%
1988	43.24 years	+11.3%
1989	44.5 years	+2.9%
1990	45.12 years	+1.4%
1991	45.52 years	+0.9%
1992	46.57 years	+2.3%
1993	51.02 years	+9.6%
1994	50.97 years	-0.1%
1995	52.1 years	+2.2%
1996	52.83 years	+1.4%
1997	53.21 years	+0.7%
1998	52.49 years	-1.4%
1999	54.53 years	+3.9%
2000	55 years	+0.9%
2001	55.51 years	+0.9%
2002	56.23 years	+1.3%
2003	57.17 years	+1.7%
2004	57.81 years	+1.1%
2005	58.25 years	+0.8%
2006	58.55 years	+0.5%
2007	58.96 years	+0.7%
2008	59.71 years	+1.3%
2009	60.25 years	+0.9%
2010	60.7 years	+0.8%
2011	61.25 years	+0.9%
2012	61.73 years	+0.8%
2013	62.19 years	+0.7%
2014	62.26 years	+0.1%
2015	62.27 years	+0.0%
2016	62.65 years	+0.6%
2017	62.41 years	-0.4%
2018	62.44 years	+0.1%
2019	62.94 years	+0.8%
2020	61.45 years	-2.4%
2021	60.42 years	-1.7%
2022	65.62 years	+8.6%
2023	66.03 years	+0.6%

Afghanistan compared with similar countries

Afghanistan's 66.03 years is above the median for low income countries, which is 63.65 years, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Afghanistan's 66.03 years is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 76.51 years, 86% of the median. (23 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1950s	30.16 years	28.16 years	32.34 years	10
1960s	34.9 years	32.8 years	36.98 years	10
1970s	39.28 years	37.46 years	41.08 years	10
1980s	37.98 years	31.47 years	44.5 years	10
1990s	50.44 years	45.12 years	54.53 years	10
2000s	57.74 years	55 years	60.25 years	10
2010s	62.08 years	60.7 years	62.94 years	10
2020s	63.38 years	60.42 years	66.03 years	4

Countries ranked near Afghanistan

200 Sudan 66.33 years compare
201 South Africa 66.14 years compare
202 Papua New Guinea 66.13 years compare
204 Djibouti 65.99 years compare
205 Gambia 65.86 years compare
206 Congo 65.77 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Afghanistan

Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.45 % change on previous year (2100)
Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 1.03 % change on previous year (2090)
Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 812.4 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
Number of infants who die before age 1 14,735 deaths (2100)
Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 19 (2025)
Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 1.78 % change on previous year (2025)
Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.077 units per person (2025)
Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 1.75 % change on previous year (2025)
Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2024)

All data for Afghanistan →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in Afghanistan?: Life expectancy in Afghanistan was 66.03 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest life expectancy recorded in Afghanistan?: The highest recorded value was 66.03 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Afghanistan?: The lowest recorded value was 28.16 years in 1950.
How does Afghanistan rank for life expectancy?: Afghanistan ranks 203rd out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in Afghanistan?: Over the last ten years it is up 6.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Afghanistan data come from?: The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Life expectancy in Afghanistan. Statizoid, drawing on Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectancy/afghanistan/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectancy/afghanistan/">Life expectancy in Afghanistan</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Life expectancy
Unit: years
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed: 17 September 2026

Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.